Young Kitimat girl takes donations, not presents, at birthday party

A six-year-old Kitimat girl raised close to $800 at her birthday party to go towards Variety — The Children’s Charity.

The girl, who Variety only identifies as Olivia in a news release, wanted to repay the kindness to the charity after all the work they did supporting a close friend of hers.

Her friend Levi was born with a rare genetic disorder which causes spasms which make it impossible to coordinate breathing and swallowing. Variety helped fly Levi’s family to Vancouver and paid for accommodation and pricey medications.

Olivia was impressed by the work Variety did and asked for donations instead of presents at her birthday party.

“Olivia and I talked about how blessed we are in our health and how there are many children who are ill and need extra support,” said Olivia’s mom Kate. “This conversation encouraged Olivia to think of how she could help, and she came up with the idea of donating her birthday presents to Variety.”

Twenty-two guests came to the party at Riverlodge, and the total raised was $767.